A Life Well Done: September 9, 1955 – August 21, 2026
Story by Carol Pappas, editor & publisher
Today marks a bittersweet moment for our team at Discover, The Essence of St. Clair. We mourn the loss of longtime photographer Wally Bromberg, and we celebrate his talent that graced our pages through photographs for many years.
In fact, his photo credit sits atop yet another story in this edition, sadly his final one for us.
I met Wally years ago when we both wound up in Pell City. It’s surprising we hadn’t met before. We’re the same age, grew up in Birmingham and attended Auburn University at the same time.
But our creative paths did later cross, and I am incredibly thankful that Wally has been part of our success story over the years. His photo credit reflects not only the name of who took the pictures, it is synonymous with a keen ability to capture the moment for our readers.
More than a few times, his work became our most popular covers. Teddy, the Wonder Dog, a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon training to be a pet therapy dog, quickly comes to mind. So do the Kelly Creek kayakers riding the rapids near Winnataska.
His photos of goats chowing down on overgrowth blanketing a hillside near Ashville that needed clearing offered us a glimpse into an unusual veteran-owned business called Rent a Ruminant. And especially on hot, summer days, I often flashback to his cover shot of a little girl quickly enjoying an ice cream cone before it melted into a memory.
Wally was intellectually curious. While most photographers silently go about their business, not Wally. Sometimes, I had to interrupt him to get my own questions in. But that was Wally, he just wanted to know. And afterward, it was not unusual for him to pontificate on what he had learned. That, too, was Wally.
What impressed me the most, though, is his sense of community. He wanted to give back. His faith led him to serve others through Rotary and other avenues.
He and wife, Nettie, opened The Gallery of Eden for hers and others’ artwork, his photography and her art classes. It became a gathering place on Tuesday nights when he hosted a ‘community pickin’ for musicians, friends and neighbors sharing music and fellowship. That was Wally, too.
At the time of his death, he was putting the finishing touches on a new, larger gathering place, an art and music center called Beebo’s Place and Wolf Creek Coffee. He envisioned it as a gathering spot for artists and musicians to showcase and share their talents, and people could come together and enjoy each other’s company in fellowship.
And while there, of course, they could enjoy a good cup of coffee. Again, that was Wally – bringing community together.
It has been our honor for Wally to be a part of our team. His legacy lives on in our magazine and in the lives of so many he touched. That, indeed, was Wally, and he will be missed for a long, long time to come.
Editor’s Note: Want to check out more of Wally’s work for Discover Magazine? Put his last name, Bromberg, into the search panel on the home page and it will return all of the stories he has done for us.
